A group of women joined each other for an evening of friendship and support. Sounds like great fun, doesn’t it? It went far deeper than that. Or perhaps I should say, it went far “DIEP-er” than that. Each of the women who gathered for the event were scheduled for or had DIEP flap breast reconstruction. They all belonged to the Facebook group, DiepCJourney, known simply as “The Journey” to many. These women were all breast reconstruction patients supporting each other and sharing their Journeys.
Social Media Breast Reconstruction Group: The Journey
Social media holds great value finding like-minded people you can connect with. But little compares to personal connections, meeting someone in person, sharing a hug, and lending special individual and emotional support. The group of women I met in San Antonio on a warm April evening shared stories they understood before they met in person. Most of us were meeting for the first time at this event.
During a recent visit to San Antonio for some advocacy work, I sent a request for us all to meet up. What a group this was. Here is a summary of who attended the dinner, all PRMA patients, past, present and future.
- There were two women scheduled to have DIEP flap breast reconstruction just a day or two after the party. They both flew in long distances to have their surgery at PRMA. I’m happy to say they are home and healing now after successful surgery.
- I arranged to pick up a woman who was healing from phase two. That’s right! She rallied and showed up just three short days after surgery, support garments on and all. She walked slowly to the car and we all took good care of her during the event, helping her into the car, making sure her seat belt cover was on to protect her surgical sights, and checking to see if there was anything she needed during the event.
- Our wonderful organizer who arranged the event at the restaurant was there with some special post-surgical equipment. On more than one occasion, this sweet Journey member loaned her shower chair to out of town patients. She brought it with her the evening of the dinner. We transferred it to my car for the delivery. She has fondly become known as “the shower chair lady”. Who was it for?
- The shower chair was going to a woman who was having her surgery three days after the event. She just flew in and hired UBER to bring her over to the event immediately after she landed, luggage and all. Her luggage got transferred to my car along with the shower chair. We were staying at the same hotel, so it made sense for me to take her and her caregiver back at the event. My rental car become the Journey UBER the evening of the party and I loved it.
- A few of the members were patients, like me, who had completed their reconstructive Journey. One Journey member was even kind enough to bring me a hand-sewn personal travel bag, a beautiful gift I know she spent a great deal of time on when I saw the details in the hand-crafted item. I will treasure the gift a lifetime. One of the gals there had given me a ride to the airport after my phase two surgery in 2016. I’ll never forget her generosity.
- Many of us shared our heartbreaks through our breast cancer diagnosis. Loss of a beautiful head of long hair, healing challenges that were resolved eventually but a personal trial to endure, the sacrifices caregivers and family members made, the difficulty of chemotherapy, waiting for a surgery date, fears of recurrence, and the days spent healing from surgery.
- We celebrated life; our children, grandchildren, vacations, new outlook on life with our newly reconstructed breasts, and how very happy we all were to be together and finally meet in person.
Sharing our Journey Strong Stories
As we wrapped up the evening, we talked about who had which plastic surgeon at PRMA. Hugs were shared but before we left and parted ways, we gathered for a group photo. We have a saying on our Facebook group. We like to say we are #JourneyStrong!
This picture speaks a thousand words, a thousand stories, and a group of breast reconstruction patients supporting one another through our unique and individual Journeys. We are forever connected!
We are #JourneyStrong!
Great articles. Thank you. 10 years ago I got my cancer diagnosis double mastectomy and reconstruction with silicone implants I’m my case after 8 years they were encapsulated. Dr Charles Tseng corrected that with DIEP Flat and it is incredible the difference. He is great and I believe is a better and more natural solution for me.
I’m so glad to hear that DIEP flap worked out for you after removing your implants, Dvorah! Thanks so much for sharing your story.